25 April: First indication of potential for Flu infection with return of students from Mexico, see
2009 flu pandemic in New Zealand
May
7 May: Gunman Jan Molenaar
shoots three police officers executing a routine cannabis search warrant, as well as a neighbour who tried to assist them. He killed Senior Constable Leonard Snee and seriously injured the others, and after a two-day siege, he was found dead.[6]
June
3 June: A police investigation leads to MP
Richard Worth resigning ministerial portfolios including
Minister of Internal Affairs "for personal reasons", with Prime Minister John Key saying, "If he hadn't resigned I would have sacked him".[7]
5 June:
David Bain is found not guilty of the murder of five family members.
12 June: Five members of the family of Janet Moses were found guilty of manslaughter after performing a fatal
exorcism.[8]
24 June: A NZ$36.1 million first division jackpot in the
New Zealand Lotteries Commission's Big Wednesday game is won by a
Masterton-based lottery syndicate of four: the largest single lottery prize won in New Zealand.[9]
29 June: A state of emergency is declared in the Waikato due to landslides.[10]
4 August: Former MP
Phillip Field found guilty on bribery, corruption and obstruction of justice charges.[13]
8–9 August: New Zealand's first
Telethon for 16 years raises $2 million for the KidsCan Stand Tall Trust.[14]
October
30 October – Electricity supply to Northland and northern Auckland is cut for three hours, affecting 280,000 customers, after a forklift carrying a shipping container hits the only major transmission line supplying the region.[15]
November
30 November: Atea-1, the first New Zealand rocket into space, is launched from
Great Mercury Island.[16]
25 April: First indication of potential for Flu infection with return of students from Mexico, see
2009 flu pandemic in New Zealand
May
7 May: Gunman Jan Molenaar
shoots three police officers executing a routine cannabis search warrant, as well as a neighbour who tried to assist them. He killed Senior Constable Leonard Snee and seriously injured the others, and after a two-day siege, he was found dead.[6]
June
3 June: A police investigation leads to MP
Richard Worth resigning ministerial portfolios including
Minister of Internal Affairs "for personal reasons", with Prime Minister John Key saying, "If he hadn't resigned I would have sacked him".[7]
5 June:
David Bain is found not guilty of the murder of five family members.
12 June: Five members of the family of Janet Moses were found guilty of manslaughter after performing a fatal
exorcism.[8]
24 June: A NZ$36.1 million first division jackpot in the
New Zealand Lotteries Commission's Big Wednesday game is won by a
Masterton-based lottery syndicate of four: the largest single lottery prize won in New Zealand.[9]
29 June: A state of emergency is declared in the Waikato due to landslides.[10]
4 August: Former MP
Phillip Field found guilty on bribery, corruption and obstruction of justice charges.[13]
8–9 August: New Zealand's first
Telethon for 16 years raises $2 million for the KidsCan Stand Tall Trust.[14]
October
30 October – Electricity supply to Northland and northern Auckland is cut for three hours, affecting 280,000 customers, after a forklift carrying a shipping container hits the only major transmission line supplying the region.[15]
November
30 November: Atea-1, the first New Zealand rocket into space, is launched from
Great Mercury Island.[16]